Quick and Easy Breadsticks

1 ½ cup warm water

1 Tablespoon yeast
2 Tablespoons sugar
3 ½ cup flour
½ tsp salt
Butter for pan

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar and let it sit and bubble for a few minutes. Add the salt and flour. Knead for 3 minutes. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. (I do all of this in my Bosch--any mixer would work great) Melt 3-4 Tbsp of butter and pour most of it onto a cookie sheet. Roll dough to cover cookie sheet. Cut to desired width, then twist or lay flat on cookie sheet. Brush remainder of butter on breadsticks and sprinkle with garlic salt, parmesan cheese, and parsley (or whatever seasonings you like). Raise for 10-20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 375 and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden. You can roll them out to fit a cookie sheet and they will be pufffy and soft. If you prefer a thinner, crunchy breadstick roll them out to fit a cookie sheet and a jelly roll pan. Either way they are great!

IHOP French Toast

2 eggs
½ c. milk
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 T. flour
6 slices of thick sliced French bread

First beat eggs, then add remaining ingredients with electric mixer. Dip both sides of bread and place in hot buttered pan. Flip over when browned. Serve with Coconut Syrup.

Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour (9 ounces)

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup fat-free buttermilk
3 tablespoons honey

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Chill 10 minutes.
3. Combine buttermilk and honey, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 4 times. Roll dough into a (1/2-inch-thick) 9 x 5–inch rectangle; dust top of dough with flour. Fold dough crosswise into thirds (as if folding a piece of paper to fit into an envelope). Reroll dough into a (1/2-inch-thick) 9 x 5–inch rectangle; dust top of dough with flour. Fold dough crosswise into thirds; gently roll or pat to a 3/4-inch thickness. Cut dough with a 1 3/4-inch biscuit cutter to form 14 dough rounds. Place dough rounds, 1 inch apart, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan; cool 2 minutes on wire racks. Serve warm.

30 Minute Rolls

1 1/8 cups plus 2 tsp. warm water

1/3 cup oil

2 Tb yeast

1/4 cup sugar or honey

½ tsp. Salt

1 egg

3 ½ cups flour

Mix 1st 4 ingredients and let rest for 15 minutes. Add salt and eggs - gradually add flour. Shape into dinner rolls, or use in your favorite recipe that calls for dough. After shaped, let rest for 10 minutes. For rolls, Bake 10 minutes @400 degrees ‘till golden brown.

Original Recipe found at Real Mom Kitchen

Homemade Bagels

2 c. warm water (about 110°)
2 (¼ -oz) packets active dry yeast, or 1 T & 1 ½ tsp yeast
3 Tbs granulated sugar, plus 1 Tb
5-6 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 Tb yellow cornmeal (opt – to spread on pan after boiling bagels.)

Combine the water, yeast, and 3 Tb of the sugar in the bowl of an upright mixer fitted with a dough hook. Stir and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Gradually add 4 cups of the flour and the salt, and mix until the mixture comes together.
Add 1 to 1 ½ c. additional flour ½ cup at a time to make a stiff dough, either stirring with a wooden spoon or working with your hands. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and no longer sticky, about 5 minutes, adding just as much flour as needed. (Dough should be stiffer than regular yeast bread dough. This works using a Bosch mixer as well.)

Grease a large bowl with 1 tsp of the oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until almost doubled, about 1 hour.

Remove from the bowl and punch down the dough. Divide into 12 equal pieces, about 2 to 3 ounces each, measuring about 4 inches across. Form each piece of dough into a ball. Roll each ball into a 4-6 inch log. Join the ends and place fingers through the hole and roll the ends together. Repeat with the remaining dough. Place on a lightly greased surface, cover with a clean cloth, and let rest until risen but not doubled in a draft-free spot, 20-30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°.
Grease a baking sheet with the remaining teaspoon of oil, or sprinkle with cornmeal.
In a large, heavy pot, bring about 12 cups of water and the remaining Tb of sugar to a boil. (This takes like 10 minutes, so start boiling it early!) In batches, add the bagels to the water and boil, turning, for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Flip bagels onto the prepared sheet pan.

Bake for 5 minutes, turn over and cook for another 30-35 minutes. **(I have found that this is too much time, at least with my gas oven. This works better for me: Cook for 20 minutes (without flipping them over), then remove from oven and liberally sprinkle asiago (or you could try parmesan) cheese on top. Return to oven for 1-3 minutes, until cheese is melted and bagel is cooked.)

Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

This recipe wasn't as daunting as I thought it was going to be. The only thing I didn't get quite right was the making of the actual bagel, my ends didn't stay together very well when I boiled them. Not sure exactly how to get them to stay together and be uniform in size all the way around. You also have to plan ahead if you want these for breakfast, as they do take some time for the rising process.

Original recipe from Sisters Cafe

Soft Pretzels

1 1/2 cup warm water

1 pkg yeast (or 1 Tb)

1 Tb sugar

1 tsp salt

4 cups flour

Add sugar to warm water then sprinkle yeast on top. Let float for a minute then stir to dissolve the yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes as yeast activates and starts to foam. Add salt and flour and knead 5-10 minutes; adding more flour as needed to reduce stickiness. Divide dough in to 12 pieces and roll each piece into a long rope or "snake". Twist into pretzel shape and place on nonstick baking sheet. Make an egg wash with one egg and a Tb of water, lightly beaten together. Brush pretzels with egg wash then sprinkle liberally with Kosher salt. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

*Soft pretzels just aren't the same the next day. They are still good but not as soft and fresh tasting. I'll tell you a secret though... brush them with melted butter, sprinkle on Parmesan cheese, and toss them under the broiler for a minute and you have a delicious cheesy pretzel snack!

5 Minute No-Knead Bread

1 1/2 Tb yeast

1 1/2 Tb Kosher salt

3 cups lukewarm water

6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (you can use 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour & 4 cups white if you wish)

Stir together all ingredients until you have a nice, thick dough. Make sure you stir it enough that there are no dry pockets of flour left anywhere in the dough. Cover well and let rise for 2 hours on the counter.

Sprinkle just a little flour over the dough and divide into 4 parts (or you can make 2 large loaves). Sprinkle with a little more flour to keep you hands from sticking and form into a ball. Place seam side down on parchment paper sprinkled with cornmeal. Allow loaves to sit for 40 minutes (longer for the larger loaves).

Preheat oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone inside of oven to preheat as well. Also, place a shallow pan full of warm water on the bottom shelf of oven to make steam during baking. This creates a crusty exterior to the bread. Sprinkle loaves with flour again. Using a serrated knife, make several slices (criss-cross or straight) across the top of the bread to allow for expansion. Lift parchment paper with loaves on top and place directly on hot stone. (I didn't have parchment paper so I gently lifted the balls of dough onto my hot stone sprinkled with cornmeal and then cut the slices across the top.) Place baking stone on middle shelf of oven and bake for approximately 40 minutes.

**Dough can sit in frig for up to 2 weeks. If you are using dough from the frig it has already done the first 2-hour rise. Shape your loaves and let sit on counter like previous instructions, however, allow longer time because dough will be cold. You can even allow shaped loaves to rise in the frig for up to 14 hours. The dough will spread slightly but don't panic, it should still have a good spring to it once baked. For "refrigerator rise" bake at 475 for approx 30 minutes.

Original Recipe at Sisters Cafe

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

zest of one lemon

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/2 cup shortening (or butter*)

1 cup frozen blueberries

Topping (this makes extra - you can try cutting it down if you want):

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 Tb lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Beat eggs, milk and shortening. Stir in blueberries. Add dry ingredients and stir gently to combine. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Combine butter and lemon juice. While the muffins are still warm, dip the tops in the butter and lemon juice, then dip in sugar. Makes 12 muffins.

*I substitute butter because I love the taste! It works great either way.

Original Recipe at www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com

Snickerdoodle Muffins

3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/4 stick), softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together, beating until fluffy (about 2 minutes with an electric mixer). Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each one. Add the vanilla yogurt and buttermilk .

4. Now add the dry ingredients. Mix until all is moist. Do not over beat.

5. I used a mini muffin muffin pan and had enough batter to make 2 batches. Spray each muffin tin with cooking spray or brush with butter. Distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 10-13 minutes(20 for regular size muffins). Test with a long toothpick to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set muffin pan on wire rack to cool. After 5 minutes, remove muffins from pan.

6. While the muffins are cooling, melt 1/4-1/2 cup of butter and prepare a bowl of cinnamon sugar. While the muffins are still a bit warm, dip the top of the muffins in the melted butter and then in the bowl of cinnamon sugar.

Original recipe from Sisters Cafe

Grandmas White Bread

2/3 cup powdered milk *see note

3 heaping Tbsp of instant yeast

6 tsp salt

2/3 cup sugar

6 Tbsp shortening

6 cups warm water

Flour (approx. 15 cups total)

Mix powdered milk, yeast, salt, sugar, and shortening in large mixer. (*your Kitchen Aid is not big enough! It will handle a half recipe though.) Add warm water. Add about 4 to 5 cups flour and beat with paddle attachment until well mixed. Change to bread hook and add flour slowly until dough comes away clean from the edge of the mixing bowl. Allow to knead for 5 more minutes. Do not add too much flour. Cover with greased plastic and allow dough to rise. Once it has doubled in size, divide into 6 parts. Form each into a log, tucking and pinching the dough underneath to make it smooth on top. (This is easily done if you lightly roll out the dough and roll up lengthwise, pinching together seam and tucking in the ends.) Raise until the size of a bread loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

*I have made this bread with fresh milk too and it works great. Just do 3 cups warm milk and 3 cups warm water in the place of the 6 cups warm water.

Original Recipe from sisterscafe.blogspot.com

Baguette

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 Tbs. (2 packages) dry yeast
2 tsp. sugar
3 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp. salt

In a small bowl mix the warm water with the yeast and sugar. Let it sit for about 5 minutes - foam should form on the top.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour and salt. Gradually add the yeast mixture. Mix until the dough becomes a smooth ball and knead for 5 minutes. (I use my Kitchen Aid with the dough hook)

Cut in half and then shape into 2 baguettes. To make them smooth and pretty, roll each half of dough into rectangle and roll up lengthwise. Pinch the edges to seal and place on lightly greased cookie sheet (or silpat) with seam down. Cover and let it rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. With a very sharp knife (I like to use a serrated blade) gently make a slash down the length of each baguette. This will give it that authentic look. Pour water in a cookie sheet and place it on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake the bread for 15 minutes. Half way through, brush the bread with melted butter.

Original Recipe from www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com

Homemade Hot Pockets

1 package refrigerator rolls
deli ham- chopped up
deli turkey- chopped up
Monterrey jack cheese- slices

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix turkey and ham together in cutting board. Remove rolls one at a time, and roll thin. Place one slice of cheese in center of roll, then top with a small handful of turkey ham mixture. Add another slice of cheese on top. Pull roll up and over mixture to create a small pocket, fold the bottom edge up and over the top to make a tight seal. Bake on cookie sheet for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Baked Potato Soup

4 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
6 cups milk
1 1/4 c. cheddar, divided
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 c. sour cream
3/4 c. chopped green onions, divided *
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled.

1. Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400 for 1 hour or until tender. This step can be done in advance or you can even use leftover baked potatoes. Allow to cool. Slice in half and then scoop insides into a bowl. Discard the skins and break any large chunks into bite-sized (or smaller) pieces.

2. Place flour into a large pot and gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly, but do NOT bring to a full boil! (Boiling will lead to curdled soup, and hey, no one likes curdled soup.)

3. Add potatoes, 3/4 c. cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir until cheese melts and remove from heat.

4. Stir in sour cream and 1/2 c. onions

5. Cook over low heat until soup is heated thoroughly. Be careful, don't walk away you don't want to scorch the bottom.

6. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with bacon, remaining cheese, and green onions. (I just mix everything together, but if you want to garnish it makes it look a little fancier.)

* I don't like green onions, so I omit them from the recipe.

Original Recipe is from Our Best Bites

Turkey Potato Bake

2 1/4 cups water
1 4.5 to 5 oz package dry julienne potato mix
2 cups chopped cooked turkey
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese *
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium saucepan, bring the water to boiling. Meanwhile, in a 2-quart baking dish combine dry potatoes and sauce mix from potato mix. Stir in turkey, 1/2 cup of the cheese, and the parsley flakes. Stir in the boiling water and the milk. Bake uncovered, for 30 to 35 minutes or until potatoes are tender, Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving, it will thicken on standing.

* I used monterey jack cheese as I didn't have cheddar.

*This recipe made barely enough for our family of 5, next time I will probably double the recipe and put it in a larger baking dish.

Lemony Turkey Rice Soup

6 cups chicken broth, divided
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
2 cups cooked rice
2 cups diced cooked turkey
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 t0 1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 to 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro*

In a large saucepan, combine 5 1/2 cups of broth, soup, rice, turkey, and pepper. Bring to a boil; boil for 3 minutes. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and remaining broth until smooth. Gradually stir into hot soup.

Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened and heated through. Remove from the heat; stir in lemon juice and cilantro. Serve.

*I am not a fan of cilantro so I omit this from the recipe and it is still fantastic. It is also not something I keep in my food storage, so it's another bonus for me to omit it!